“These paints
are water base and contain real metal particles. They will tarnish naturally
over time and when exposed to the elements. Patina Aging Solutions and Rust
Activator will speed up the oxidation process to create beautiful, authentic
Patina or Rusted Iron finishes on any paintable surface.”

Modern Masters has been
around for decades, and I was told they started out providing paints for set
design in Hollywood. They have a user
friendly website that provides information about their various products, and information
about how to use the products in their blog, as well as an inspiration tab. If you have some time to kill it is fun to
browse through their site (okay maybe I am a total art nerd, but I find it
really fun).

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

You won't need the head to toe set up mom and I are wearing in this photo, but this stuff is still toxic. So, unless you want to get your daily dose of
copper without taking a vitamin, I would suggest doing the following:

Open the
Windows: I open up all the doors in my studio when
I am working with this paint. I find with the
breeze moving through the studio is enough, and I do not need a mask. If you are at all
sensitive to smelly paint odor I would wear a mask that has the filter cartridge - like the one we are wearing in the photo. I don’t use this copper paint at live paint
demonstrations. Instead, I apply the
copper to the canvas a few days in advance.
I just don’t want to expose anyone to the the smell.

Wear
Gloves: I also
wear gloves because I am really messy when I am painting and I always get paint
on me. FYI a great soap for cleaning paint
off your skin is LAVA soap.

Soap &
Water Clean-up: Since this is a water based paint, clean up is easy. Make
sure you immediately clean and rinse your brushes when you are finished. While painting I will work with several
brushes. The brush I am not using is kept
in my water jar so it does not dry out. This may seem obvious, but when you are deep
into the painting it is easy to set it down, and grab the next brush. Then, 10 minutes later you have a dead $40
brush that can now only be used by the kids as a harry potter wand.

WHERE TO BUY IT

I buy my Modern Master paints from a local art store here
in San Diego. However, I notice it is now
easily available on the internet. Even
Home Depot carries it! I am including a
photo of the products that I use in the studio so you can see the exact version I
use. The packaging for the copper paint
seems different than what is carried in Home Depot, but if that is local and
convenient for you it may be worth a try.

HOW
TO USE IT

This copper paint is very opaque. It has exceptional coverage, and I find
applying one coat is enough for my paintings. It dries as you would expect for an acrylic paint… quickly. I’m in San Diego, California, and unless it is
very humid, the paint usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to set.

THERE
IS A FINAL STEP

This is not a set it and forget it paint product. The neat thing about this paint is that it
metal. This is not a “copper” colored
paint. It is really copper you are applying to your art.

If you do nothing to your copper
paint it will oxidize over time

What
is Oxidation: Here
is a quick description for the website titled "Living Science":

"Just as iron that is left unprotected in open
air will corrode…copper that is exposed to the elements undergoes a series of
chemical reactions that give the shiny metal a pale green outer layer called a
patina."

Dos
and Don’ts: So
here are some dos and don’ts I have learned:

If
you want to keep the shiny copper look: Sealing it with an acrylic top coat, or varnish
will preserve the copper color.

Fine
art: Definitely use a professional
grade varnish, such as Liquitex or Golden.
There is a trick to varnishing, so if
you want me to do an article on that send me an email at hello@artdivas.net. Also, if you are sensitive to vapor odors I
would stick with the Liquitex bottle varnish.

A
Side Note about Golden Spray Varnish: The Golden spray is good,
but boy you really need to have some advanced skills. I can
use multiple cans on a large painting over several days, and at $21 per can, make sure
you are incorporating that into your cost. Also, be prepared for your painting to be stinky for a week (aka don’t
do it on a commission 2 days before your unveiling). On the other hand, this spray varnish can be a God send
and it definitely has its purpose. It’s
like a double stroller, you don’t use it all the time, but when you need it you
really need it. That is how I would
describe Golden spray varnish. Okay…back
to copper paint…

Crafts: Using Mod Podge for crafty projects is
fine. I prefer the spray version if the
design is intricate or you don’t want to see brush strokes. I love to paint it directly on if I want to add more
texture to the finish of a project – say a paper mache’ Halloween pumpkin (yep I’m
not only an art nerd but crafty too).

Refinished
furniture or heavy use items: Use a polyurethane top coat. I am including a photo o a gloss product I
use. If it is for cabinets or re-purposed
furnishings, I would suggest using the satin finish. That’s my favorite…I’m just out of it at the
moment and couldn’t take a photo.

Add
Chemical Solutions to Quickly Create a Patina:

Metal
Effects Patina Aging Solutions: I am familiar with both the blue patina aging
solution, and the green patina aging solution.
I have been using them for years, and even using them side-by-side on my canvas, I cannot tell any difference between the two patina colors. They both have a light blue/green hue. I would love to hear from my fellow artists
if you have experienced the same thing.
I still buy both, and I still make decisions on which patina aging
solution I use for a particular painting based on if I want a green or a blue
patina. However, at the end of the day….I
see only blue/green patina with both.

YES,
Modern Masters is my favorite patina solution. I am not getting paid to say that. It is the truth. I have tried other products
recommended by my local art store. They
are a better value, but in this case they do not react as robustly as Modern
Masters. If you are going to the
trouble to use the copper paint, and try to patina something, just use the Modern
Masters aging solution. Another aging solution
product I used took over a day to see anything, and it was a very anemic
reaction.

Liberally
Apply the Solution: Now
is not the time to be stingy with the solution. I puddle it onto my copper paint and leave it. You can see it react quickly, and in about 15
minutes it is dry. You can reapply if
you want a deeper patina. In the photo
of my “Dragon’s Back” painting I put two coats of the blue patina aging
solution on the center of the wave, and you can see it is a brighter blue. For the rest of the wave I wanted the colors to
be softer, and more muted, so I applied single and light coats of the blue and
green patinas. I some areas I let the shiny copper peek through. For larger areas I will pour a little bit of
the patina straight from the bottle onto the painted area and then use my brush
to move it around.

Should
the Copper Paint be Dry:
I usually wait for my copper
paint to dry before I add the patina solution. This
is around 15 minutes. I have applied the
patina solution first, and then added the
copper paint just to see what happened. The color changed a little, but
not as much as if I had let it dry and then added the
aging solution. I get impatient, and
if I am in the painting zone I will put the patina on my wet paint. It does the trick, but you risk smearing
your paint with your brush. I would suggest just waiting 15 minutes….unless
you can’t…then by all means go for it.

DON’T
put it Directly onto the Aging Patina Solution: Don’t do it. It will get funky, and messy, because some of these products don’t adhere
well to the chemicals in the patina, and you can end up messing it all up.

DO
put it directly onto the Aging Patina Solution that has been sprayed with
varnish or Mod Podge. You
can avoid the funky mess by spraying a layer of acrylic sealer, varnish, or Mod
Podge between the patina solution, and the acrylic gel or pouring mediums. This is where the fun happens, because you can
create your copper paint layer, patina it, seal it and then go for another epic
layer of crazy acrylic gel, glass bead gel, colored pouring medium, etc.

Please contact me if you have any questions or insights
with using copper paints. Dotty and I
love the times when we get out the studio and meet our friends here in San
Diego at local art shows. But, sadly,
the life of an artist can be solitary and introspective. So if
you want to talk art, send me an email at hello@artdivas.net
or comment here.